All terrain and/or sport utility vehicles are useful for many tasks. Such all terrain and/or sport utility vehicles typically travel on air pressured tires or tracks. Commonly such vehicles have a seat to be straddled by an operator and are steered by handlebars although other seating and control configurations, e.g., a steering wheel or hand or foot operated control levers, are possible. Three or four wheels are commonly utilized although other wheel configurations, such as six or more wheels are contemplated. Such vehicles are often very maneuverable configured for ease of starting, stopping, reversing and turning as well as ease at handling in small spaces or uneven terrain.
All terrain and/or sport utility vehicles are often outfitted with vehicle accessories, such as a blade or plow or winch, to enable the vehicle to perform additional tasks such as grading earth or plowing snow. Accessory implements often are mounted with respect to the vehicle such that the implement may be raised or lowered, or otherwise adjusted, with respect to the frame or body of the vehicle in order to effect an appropriate action. For example, a blade or plow may commonly have two operable positions, either raised or lowered. In the lowered position, the blade attached to the vehicle may be used to move or otherwise affect material in the path of the vehicle, e.g., blading a roadway or earth or plowing or moving snow or ice. In the raised position, the blade may be lifted out of its working position with material otherwise affected, e.g, so that the vehicle may maneuver into position such the implement may again be lowered to again affect material in the path of the vehicle.
Operating an all terrain or sport utility vehicle may involve the movement of a plurality of controls, either simultaneously or within a close period of time. For example, the throttle and steering, e.g., handlebars, may need to adjusted simultaneously in order to control the vehicle. The clutch and/or brake and/or transmission levers also need to be adjusted in nearly this same period of time. Of course, operators of all terrain or sport utility vehicles are generally familiar with the operation of such controls either through prior operation of all terrain or sport utility vehicles or through prior operation of other vehicles.
In some all terrain or utility vehicles, the implement, such as a blade or plow, is operated, e.g., raised and lowered, through the operation of a cable attached to a winch, typically an electric winch. Winding the winch in a direction to retrieve cable causes the implement to be raised. Winding the winch in the opposite direction causes the implement to be lowered by gravity. However, the exact positioning of the implement operated with a winch system is sometimes difficult to predict.
The addition of an implement to an all terrain or sport utility vehicle may necessarily involve at least an additional set of controls. The implement, e.g., a blade or plow, may need to be raised or lowered in roughly the same time frame as other operational controls also need to be operated. Further, the implement may need to be operated or maneuvered to a particular height or position relative to the frame or body of the vehicle in order to most advantageously facilitate its use.